EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



FERTILIZER ANALYSES. 



ANDREW J. PATTEN^ S. L. JODIDI^ C. B. COLLINGWOOD. 

 SUMMARY OP FERTILIZER LAW. 



Bulletin No. 252. 



The inspection and analyses of the commercial fertilizers offered for 

 sale in Michigan are made under authority of an act of the Legislature, 

 approved March 10, 1885. The full text of the law has been printed 

 in former bulletins, and its salient points alone will be referred to here. 

 It provides that all commercial fertilizers, retailing for more than ten 

 dollars per ton, shall be accompanied by a statement certifying the 

 number of net pounds in the given sack, the brand, name and address 

 of the manufacturer, and a chemical analysis stating the percentages 

 of nitrogen, of potash soluble in water, of available (soluble and re- 

 verted) phosphoric acid, and the insoluble phosphoric acid. (Sec. 1.) 

 It provides that the manufacturer, importer or agent (the latter only 

 in case the manufacturer fails to comply with the law), shall pay an- 

 nually a license fee of twenty dollars for each brand offered for sale. (Sec. 

 3.) It provides that any person offering unguaranteed or over-guaran- 

 teed goods, shall be subject to a fine. (Sec. G.) The full text will be 

 furnished on application. 



LICENSED BRANDS. 



Twenty-six manufacturers and fertilizer companies have licensed 149 

 distinct brands for sale in the state during the season of 1908. These 

 brands, appearing in the following tables of analyses, and no others can 

 be legally sold. 



Parties manufacturing, importing or purchasing fertilizers for their 

 own use and not for sale are not affected by the restrictions of the 

 law. 



COLLECTION OF SAMPLES. 



The sampling agents of the station, during the months of April, ]\Iay 

 and June, drew 275 samples from dealers' stocks representing 13G dif- 

 ferent brands. The failure to get samples of 13 brands is due to the 

 fact that many of them are sold only in the fall, then, too, a few com- 

 panies sell direct to the consumer through the Grange and other organi- 

 zations and consociuently it is only by chame that samples of such 

 goods are obtained. If persons ordering goods in this way wish to 

 have them inspected they will protect themselves and at the same time 

 confer a favor on this department by notifying us, and upon the arrival 

 of the goods an inspector will be sent to draw samples. 



It is the desire of this department to make the inspection as complete 

 as possible, and any information to further this end from dealer or con- 



